New Havoc Interview

[Mr. Humonculous]

In the run up to the release of Mobb Deep's "Bloody Money" album, their first release since joing G-Unit, we had a chance to interview Mobb Deep's Havoc about the album and it's leak onto the Internet before it's release, joining G-Unit and the recent death of D12's Proof.


Havoc: Yo, what’s up?

JD: Hey, how you doing?

Havoc: Aiight

JD: I want to start off with a few questions about the album. What can we expect from the album? Is it going to be a typical Mobb Deep album?

Havoc: You know basically, it's another Mobb Deep classic, we put our heart into it and the album is crazy, you know what I’m saying?


JD: Yeah, what can we expect as far as guest appearances go?

Havoc: Well we kept it limited to the G-Unit family and ourselves, so of course we got 50, we got Yayo, Young Buck, Lloyd Banks and even a special feature from Mary J. Blige.


JD: Did you handle all of the production or did you get others in as well?

Havoc: I produced about half of the album, of course we got other producers on there, which is a good thing, you know what I mean? You get to hear Mobb Deep over different and various tracks.


JD: You've got a track on the album produced by Dre haven't you?

Havoc: Yeah, yeah, it's called Nightmares, man that's tight.

JD: What was it like working with Dre?

Havoc: I mean, it was a good experience because I am a producer myself. So working with him was like an honour, you know to sit there and watch him do his thing, that was crazy.

JD: Did you just sit back and take notes?

Havoc: Yeah of course, I took a lot of mental notes, you know what I mean, I was glad I was a part of that.


JD: Where do you think Bloody Money ranks amongst your other albums?

Havoc: Ah man, it's right there at the top, you know what I mean, for real.

JD: So you think it is the best Mobb Deep material?

Havoc: Yeah man.


JD: What is your favourite track from the album?

Havoc: Errm, I would have to say, there's a song that I did called Creep, it's real crazy.

JD: And what makes it your favourite?

Havoc: I mean just the beat in general, you know what I mean, and our flow is real crazy.

JD: When you were recording the album, did you feel pressured that you had to live up to your previous material?

Havoc: Well, you know, I am always trying to out do myself, so that feeling is always there, you know what I mean, within myself.

JD: I'm not sure if you've heard yet, but the album actually leaked onto the Internet yesterday (April 19).

Havoc: Yeah, I heard about that.

JD: How do you feel about albums being leaked onto the Internet before they're release date?

Havoc: I mean, sometimes it's hard to control that situation, but I think of it as a preview. If people want it that much that they leak it onto the Internet, you know, it works both ways, it could be a good thing depending on how early it gets leaked. In this case it was only about 2 weeks, so it's not that bad.

JD: I hear you are planning to preview the album on Shade 45 this weekend.

Havoc: Yep.

JD: What can people expect. Are you going to play the entire album or just snippets of tracks?

Havoc: Yeah, we will probably play snippets and a couple of tracks, just to get people warmed up.

JD: I just want to talk about the move over to G-Unit. How did it feel to be part of a rap super group like G-Unit?

Havoc: I mean, for real it was a good feeling, you know its a family, its a family atmosphere, you know what I mean, that's what we [Mobb Deep], we been searching for that for a long time. We did good on our own, but its always good to be part of a family.

JD: How did the deal come about because it seemed to come out of nowhere.

Havoc: what happened was, we were on Jive and we got released from Jive through our differences with each other. A week later I got a call from 50 Cent saying that he heard we were free agents and that he wanted to work with our next project.

JD: Was it an easy decision to make once you found out 50 was interested?

Havoc: Yeah, obviously we had to think about it and when we had the meeting with 50 we were confident that he would do what he said and come through, you know what I mean.

JD: Do you think it was a good move based on the fact you will get much more international exposure?

Havoc: Urm yeah because music most of the time is all about exposure and we always looking for that so yeah, it's a good thing.

JD: Did 50 Cent have much input on the album?

Havoc: Oh yeah definitely, he is who he is and with the creative mind that he has, you know alongside of ours it just turns out that we made a classic album because of that.

JD: Have you learnt anything from working with 50, or have you actually taught him a thing or two?

Havoc: Basically, no matter where you think you are in your life, you still gotta work hard.

JD: Now that you're a part of G-Unit, I mean G-Unit do much more than music nowadays, have you got any plans to sign any of your own artists or do books or DVDs or anything?

Havoc: Yeah, for sure. Now that you mention that, we do have a couple of artists, we got 40 Glocc, who is from L.A. California and we got Nyce from Jamaica, Queens, so yeah we definitely gonna be putting our artists on the Infamous/G-Unit label.

JD: A lot of people have been wondering that since you joined G-Unit, have you inherited their beefs, in particular the one with The Game?

Havoc: I mean, it is what it is, I mean us being signed to G-Unit, if people dislike it of course they are going to come at us, so I just take it day by day and I don't pay attention to it, I just make music.

JD: M.O.P. also signed to G-Unit around the same time as you, have you got any plans to do any collaborations with them?

Havoc: Yeah definitely, its inevitable, you know what I’m saying, we get along real well, so we definitely going to be doing an album with them.

JD: You're going to make an album together?

Havoc: Yeah, if not an album, definitely songs.

JD: How come they aren't on the new album?

Havoc: We didn't get a chance to collaborate on this one, but in the future they will be.

JD: Outside of G-Unit, is there anyone you would like to work with who you haven't had chance to?

Havoc: You know I’m a producer so that’s natural that I’ma work with other artists anyway, so I don't have anyone specifically in mind, but it's definitely something I will do.

JD: Are you going to be handling some of the production for G-Unit now?

Havoc: I mean, I been doing work with G-Unit since before I signed to them, I’ve been producing for a couple of their artists.

JD: Are you going to continue doing production for people outside of G-Unit?

Havoc: Oh yeah, of course, like I said, its only natural, I’m a producer, so for sure, yeah.

JD: Have you got any plans for a tour this year and are you coming to the UK?

Havoc: Yeah, we start the tour in the US May 3rd and we will be in Europe I would say by the beginning of July.

JD: You've been in the rap game for quite a long time now, how do you think it's changed since you started out?

Havoc: Of course a lot of things have changed, you know, I don't mind, I welcome change and I remain and still do what I do.

JD: What are your thoughts on the whole Proof situation in Detroit?

Havoc: Yeah, I think about that and it's a bad situation, I knew him, he was on the road with us and any time there is an untimely death, it's never good, it's never good, you know and I send my condolences out to his family and pray that they get good because people like family and you never want to see family go.

JD: Finally, is there anything you would like to tell the fans?

Havoc: I just want to thank the fans for supporting Mobb Deep, you know, for the time they have supported us and definitely go and pick up the album because it's a collectable item for real.


http://www.boombox.co.uk/interviews/Boombox-Mobb_Deep-(Havoc)-Interview-20April2006.asp

[Minkaveli]

Great interview.  Bad album. 

[Matty]

track by dre on the album eh......enough with the lies

[Okka]

Havoc said that "Creep" is his favorite songs from the album 

[Dargine]

Hav' still says that "Nightmares" is on the album... Could this mean that we don't got the full album yet? Or that someone decided to change the tracklist and didn't tell him?

Havoc said that "Creep" is his favorite songs from the album 

I played the album in my car with some friends a few times, they all say that's their fav as well, personally I like it too, not the best track on it, but it's nice.